Participants:
| Scene Title | I Think I'm Learning Japanese |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Elaine and Adam meet in a library and leave with Elaine having a job which requires her to learn a new language. |
| Date | May 31, 2010 |
The New York Library
Adam is seated in the library which appears to be less crowded than one might expect. As more of the city opens, people have to concentrate less than they used to before. Seated in a comfortable easy chair, Adam rests comfortably with one leg crossed over the other. In his hands is a book on conversational German which he flips through rather quickly.
There's someone else browsing the language section of the library. Elaine moves down the aisles, perhaps a half-dozen books under her arms. She moves to a table, glancing at the stack which consists of at least three or four different languages. She starts with a Chinese, settling in her chair as she flips through at a rather fast rate.
Adam glances up as the girl passes by and he flips through his book almost absently. He looks at the spines of the books and hms to himself before closing the book he was reading and sets it down. He stands from his chair and looks over the table, picking up one of the books that the girl had brought, "This is a varied lot." he comments in a british accent.
"What can I say? I can't be biased towards one language or another. Wouldn't be fair." Elaine comments, Scottish accent and all. She peers towards Adam, noting his accent as well. "I take it you're a bit of a fan of languages too?"
Adam tilts his head to the side, "I don't know if fan is the right word, but I've been known to dabble. You might say it's been out of necessity, I've traveled a bit and you have to pick up the local color, yeah?" he pauses, "And yourself?"
Elaine glances down at the book she was reading, flips a page, then looks back up, seemingly a bit intrigued. "Yeah, I've travelled a bit. Not much, but enough that it really brought out my passion for languages. You /do/ pick up a bit when you travel, I must say."
Adam mms, "Indeed." he replies a bit. "You're Scottish?" he questions, "From where in Scotland?" questioning as he picks up another book to glance at the title.
"Ah, you've caught me there." Elaine grins a little sheepishly. "My family's originally from Scotland, though a few generations back, but I've only been there once. The accent's just a bit of something I picked up while visiting there and studied a bit. Kinda something I'm fond of practicing with.. accents. Guess you could call it a hobby."
Adam mms a bit in response, though doesn't quite clearly follow up on it. "So how many languages have you picked up? These appear to be a bit varied, suggesting more than just a little bit of travel."
"Ah, well, right now I've only got English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Gaelic, with a touch of Dutch." Elaine glances at the books. "And I'm working on a bit of Chinese and Russian." She offers. "Though really, I've only travelled a bit of Europe. You can learn a lot simply from being in New York, though. There's quite a bit of diverse population to learn from and practice with."
Adam nods a bit to himself before he sits down at a chair in the table. He glances briefly across to the girl and says, "That's quite impressive. You seem a bit young to know so many languages. Must have a gift for it. I only pick such things up over time, I suppose." he crosses one leg over the other as he gets comfortable in his seat. "Haven't picked up any Japanese?"
Elaine shakes her head. "Not yet. Chinese is my first brush with some of the Asian languages, but I'm finding it pretty fun to learn." She does grin, however. "And yeah, I guess you could say I've got a gift for it. It's certainly something I put time and effort into."
Adam considers that for a few moments, thoughtfully, "I see." he says reflectively. "I only picked up Mandarin recently, to be honest. I don't know how fluent I'd say it is. It's a difficult language to learn. Not many base languages to pick up to help it." he pauses, "What is it you do, Elaine. You're not still in high school, are you?"
There's a bit of a laugh at the suggestion of high school. "Nope, done with that. Moved on to better days." Elaine rubs her arm a bit. "As far as what I do? I dunno. Really, I've been down on my luck until recently. Sorta been between foster homes and the street since the bomb. Right now, I'm just lucky that I've found somewhere to stay for free.. gives me time to do a bit of studying. I figure I'll be able to make use of that someday."
Adam has a look, for him it's a bit common though that's not something that Elaine is likely to know. It's a passive look as if things are fitting together in his mind, like a puzzle is being worked on and that puzzle, right now, is this girl. His eyes narrow a moment in thought and then he leans back again, "Staying for free? Seems to be a lot of that around here. It's a veritable hotel in this city sometimes."
"Funny story, that. Guy I'm staying with ended up being my boyfriend. Things just kinda happen when you're stuck with someone, snowed in, for like a month. I'm lucky, though. Not like he's making me pay… but it does make me feel slightly guilty that I'm not contributing or anything." Elaine comments, drumming her fingers on the cover of one of the books for a moment. "I don't think he'd even dream of asking me to help pay for something, though."
Adam smirks to himself, "Funny that." but it seems like he's commenting mostly to himself. "What is it you'd be hoping to contribute?" he asks, "You mean like…money or something? Or are you talking in more abstract terms?"
Elaine frowns. "Well, I don't really have much to offer in general, just having a job and money would be nice, at least, so if he /did/ need something I could actually be productive. I just don't want to be a moocher, you know? I need to make a bit of something of myself, at least."
Adam nods, "I see." his head tilts briefly to the side and says, "What does your boyfriend do, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Odd jobs, really. He does a lot of help at The Lighthouse, though. He manages to make ends meet, though." Elaine replies, tapping her chin. "I suppose that's all Magnes does, though I suppose he could have a little something else he does for money."
Adam arches a brow for a moment. There's a look of interest on his features and then he smiles a bit. "Well, sounds like neither of you has much to afford, really." he presses his hands together and leans forward in his seat, "How quickly do you pick up languages?" he questions.
Elaine looks around for a moment, then at the books. "Depends on my exposure. I can learn a lot from the books, but even more around people speaking it. You give me the right circumstances? It could be a matter of days. I've got an ear for accents, too. I've confused a few Italians at a restaurant downtown as they thought I was an Italian native, accent and all, but there was the whole ginger thing I've got going on." She points at the red hair.
Adam nods, "I'd like to offer you a job." he says, "As a translator." his head tilts lightly to the right and says, "You'll have to learn Japanese to begin with, but it sounds like that won't be much of a problem. Your original objective will be to translate rather old japanese texts." he pauses, "There is a catch, of course. You'll have to sign a contract which will include a non-disclosure agreement."
Elaine's eyes light up. Ancient japanese texts? "That sounds amazing.. I'm a bit of a history nerd, too.. so this sounds like something I'd get quite a bit out of." She peers at him. "Non-disclosure? Well, that's not particularly bothersome to me. Not like I've got much of anyone to tell, anyways."
Adam nods, "Well, I like to keep things confidential. Some of what you'll be working with is priceless and I'm not terribly interested in having it get out. I'd do it myself, but…things to do and all that, so I'll sub contract it to you." he pauses, "Are you good at keeping secrets?" he questions, "Even from your boyfriend?"
Elaine raises an eyebrow. "I'm pretty good at keeping things, yeah." She looks back over at him. "I could keep things a secret if I needed to, so long as it wasn't something that'd hurt him. I mean, it's one thing if I find out someone's going to track him down and kill him, it's another if I'm keeping someone's private information private, you know?" She nods. "Secrets are safe with me."
Adam nods, "Good." he says. He pauses and pulls out a pad from his jacket. He begins to scribble some information down upon it, "This is the number to my personal assistant, Sabrina." he says, "She'll get you set up with my lawyer to sign the contracts and whatever else needs to be done. After that, they'll get you set up in an office to start transcribing." he pauses, "Do you have any questions?"
There's a quick nod, and she glances over at the number. "Sure, I can do that." Elaine pauses for a moment, searching her brain for questions. "What'm I supposed to tell my boyfriend I'm doing, if this is all top secret? Or can I say I'm just translating and just not tell him what?"
Adam shrugs one shoulder, "It's not important to me. You can say you're translating or doing office work, or.." he waves a hand. "It's not explaining the actual actions that bother me, it's the details. For instance, you can tell him you were hired by a handsome, charming man if you like. But I'd keep my name out of it, if that makes sense."
"Well, you didn't give me your name, so I guess that's easy enough." Elaine notes, studying Adam. "I guess that all makes sense. Just none of the details." She nods once more. "Right. I can do that, then."
Adam nods as he slides the paper across the paper, "My name is Adam." he says in a quiet manner, "Adam Monroe. Though you'll be working for my foundation, the name which escapes me, but it'll be on your checks. It's mainly a tax thing, you see?"
Elaine nods, taking the paper off the table and slipping it in as a bookmark in the Chinese book she was reading from. "It's a pleasure. Elaine Darrow. And don't worry about the foundation thing, it doesn't bug me what name's on the check. You want your old stuff translated, I do it and get paid. Simple as that, if you ask me." She offers a cheerful smile.
Adam nods, "Well, you'll be under contract," he replies, "So, you'll be translating other things eventually. But for now and the foreseeable future, this is what you do. They'll negotiate a modest salary. I'm more of a big picture man, myself, I don't get involved in the details." he pauses and for a moment, he seems distant, "Or was." after a brief moment of awkwardness, he shakes his head, "Well, I suppose that's that. They'll inform me when you're all vetted and such." he stands from the table, "Good evening, Elaine."
"Right, of course." Elaine states, giving him a small nod. "Good evening then, Mr. Monroe." She glances back at her stack of books, then at the rows near her. It looked like she'd be needing to check out a few more books than originally anticipated.